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Saturday, September 15, 2012

I can't believe it! Our little boy is already half a year old! Where does the time go?

We
went for his 6 month appointment yesterday and he is still doing
great. Developmentally, he's right where he should be, a little ahead,
in fact. For height and weight, he's still lingering in the middle of
the pack. He was 16 lbs, 10.5 oz (45th percentile), 26 3/4 inches tall
(50th percentile) and his head circumference was 17 inches (50th
percentile). He jabbered away to the doctor all through the appointment
along with trying to eat his stethoscope. The only minor concern we
had for the appointment was that he's had red eyes and a runny nose for a
few days. We were wondering if he had a cold, but the doc suspects it
is seasonal allergies. He told us we could give him 2 mL of Benadryl if
the stuffiness is affecting his eating or sleeping. Considering he has
been waking every 40 minutes for the last week, we jumped on the
opportunity to give him some Benadryl last night (everyone needed a more
restful night of sleep) and he had his first full night of sleep since
vacation, save for the 2 a.m. feeding we have to set the alarm clock
for.

We were a little nervous about all the
vaccinations (he was so mad after his 4 month appointment that he
stopped eating to within an ounce of the point that we need to take him
to the hospital), but he seems to have done fine this time around. He
even got a flu shot on top of all the other shots and he was still just
fine. Thank goodness!

He is officially crawling. It
started about 3 weeks ago with some partial army crawling, partial frog
hopping, partial belly off the ground crawling. It wasn't pretty, but
it got him where he wanted to go with a great deal of effort. As soon
as we returned from vacation (4 days after he turned 6 months old), he
had put things together into a respectable crawl -- look out world!

He
can sit on his own for long stretches of time. He's still trying to
master getting from sitting to crawling, but he's getting better at it.
While we were on vacation, he tipped forward from sitting to reach for a
toy and he forgot to catch himself. His poor little face hit the
hardwood floor and he cried and cried. By the time he lifted his head
from the safe comfort of my shoulder as I comforted him, there was a
little trail of blood running from his nostril. His first bloody nose.
=( He went right back to playing after a little snuggling with Mommy,
but he does seem to be being more careful when he tips forward -- thank
goodness!

He's doing very well with eating. He still
takes about 32 ounces of formula per day, but it's starting to be in
more 6 oz servings instead of all in 4 oz servings. He always takes 6
ounces at bedtime, in the middle of the night and first thing in the
morning. He's taking in quite a bit of solid food at dinner, too. He
eats sweet potatoes, squash, apples, bananas and peas (he LOVES peas).
Sometimes, he'll finish an entire container in one meal, but most of the
time, he only eats about half. He also gets a few banana puffs at
breakfast (mainly just to keep him busy while we eat), but although he
can pick them up, he doesn't seem to want to put them in his mouth. His older brother tried helping him the other day ("Open wide!"), but the
puffs that made it into his mouth that night must not have made much of
an impression on his palate because he's still not interested in putting
them in his mouth. He picks them up and throws them off his tray, much
to the dog's delight.

He still loves watching his big
brother and is fascinated by his red crocs shoes. Whenever he sees
them, he crawls with all his might to touch them. He also likes his brother's trains and matchbox cars. He also still spends a lot of
time thoughtfully contemplating his opposable thumbs. He can literally
sit and stare at his fist opening and closing, and his thumb appearing
and disappearing for 5 minutes at a stretch.

He's
starting to be very roly poly on the changing table. It's sometimes a
miracle we can even get a diaper on him as he's tossing and turning and
flipping. He's just too busy sometimes to pause for diaper changes.

He's
starting to add more vowel sounds to his babbling. We get lots of
"ahhs" and "eeeees" along with lots of happy squealing and belly laughs,
but I'm also staring to hear some D sounds, which probably means this
will be our second baby who says Daddy first =)

He
still takes the title of the world's best baby. He is a great sleeper, a
great eater, he plays quietly and happily and he is the sweetest little
snuggler. We really are the luckiest parents to have such a good
baby. I love this little munchkin SO much!

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About Our MCADD Journey

We didn't know much about newborn screening and we knew even less about metabolic disorders until our youngest son, "LB", was diagnosed with MCADD when he was three days old. We have a wonderful pediatrician and incredible metabolic specialists at the Colorado Children's Hospital who have educated us about his condition and taught us how to keep him safe. Keeping track of LB's food intake has become a natural part of our daily routine, but he is otherwise a completely normal and happy kid.

I started this blog to reassure other Moms (and Dads and Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends, Neighbors, etc.) that MCADD isn't as scary as it may seem at first and to provide some insight into this condition as we learn more about it over the course of our son's life.

About Me

Nauseatingly optimistic and way too busy for my own good, I am hopelessly addicted to good books, soft blankets and warm cups of cocoa. I blog to tell my own story and keep up with the stories of my pals who are spread out across the world doing wonderful things. I am happily married to the man of my dreams and we have TWO handsome little boys along with a houseful of pets who provide endless hours of entertainment.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Communications and a Master's degree in Public Policy. Professionally, I am an alternative fuels strategist/junkie/advocate, but newborn screening advocacy is a personal 24/7 mission because I'll never be able to fully express my gratitude for how newborn screening saved my baby's life.